Card Art: The Original Designs Behind Card Lounge

Every card you play with on Card Lounge comes from an art set made for the site. This page explains what the designs include, the thinking behind them and what happens if the artwork changes.

Original illustrations

The court cards (the Jacks, Queens and Kings), the card back and the table felt are original illustrations made for Card Lounge. They give the site its own look while keeping the familiar structure of a standard deck: four suits, and thirteen ranks from Ace to King in each.

You will meet these designs throughout the site, from Klondike and FreeCell to Blackjack and Memory Pairs.

Designed to be read at a glance

Card games are about quick recognition. You scan a column, spot a red 9 that fits on a black 10 and move on. The designs put readability first:

• Large corner indexes. The rank and suit sit large in the corner of each card. In a column most of each card is hidden under the next one, so the corner is often the only part you can see, and it still has to tell you exactly what the card is.
• Red and black suits. Clubs ♣ and spades ♠ are black; diamonds ♦ and hearts ♥ are red, following the standard convention that every game on the site relies on.
• A clear card back. Face-down cards need to be told apart from face-up ones instantly, so you can see at a glance how many hidden cards remain in a column.

Why readability matters in these games

Each game leans on the designs in a slightly different way:

• In Klondike, FreeCell and Yukon you build down in alternating colours, so the red and black split is the first thing you read.
• In Spider, runs only move together when they are one suit. In the four-suit game you need to tell spades from clubs and hearts from diamonds quickly.
• In Pyramid you add ranks to make 13, and in TriPeaks and Golf you look for a card one rank up or down, so the corner rank does most of the work.
• In Memory Pairs a pair is two cards of the same rank and colour, such as 7♥ and 7♦, so both rank and colour count.
• In Blackjack and Higher or Lower you read ranks quickly to work out totals and odds.

Changing the art set

The art set can be changed by the site maintainers without affecting saved games. If the designs are updated while you have a round in progress, it resumes as normal when you return: the same cards in the same places, simply drawn differently.

Ready to play

See the designs in action on the home page board, or browse every game in the game directory. If you are new to the controls, start with How to play.